The present disclosure relates to a sheet conveying apparatus, and a sheet processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus provided with the same.
Conventionally, a sheet feed apparatus mounted to an apparatus body of an image forming apparatus has been known as a sheet conveying apparatus that conveys sheets. The sheet feed apparatus has a shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, and is mounted to an apparatus body of an image forming apparatus similarly having a shape of a rectangular parallelepiped. In most cases, the image forming apparatus is mounted on the sheet feed apparatus, and both apparatuses are fixed to each other.
The sheet feed apparatus includes a sheet storage portion therein. A sheet conveying path extends from the sheet storage portion to a top face portion of the sheet feed apparatus. On the other hand, a body-side conveying path is provided in the apparatus body of the image forming apparatus to extend upward from a bottom portion. When the image forming apparatus and the sheet feed apparatus are fixed to each other, the sheet conveying path and the body-side conveying path communicate with each other. As a result, sheets are fed to the image forming apparatus from the sheet feed apparatus.
Conventionally, a guide member provided to project from a top face portion of a sheet feed apparatus for sending a sheet from the sheet feed apparatus to an apparatus body of an image forming apparatus has been known. Since a leading end portion of the guide member projects toward the apparatus body of the image forming apparatus, the sheets can appropriately be sent.